THE OBGY PREINTERN MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
Allow me to invite gynaecologists to my initiative – #AdoptAPreIntern. #AdoptAPreIntern is an obstetrics and gynaecology mentorship program for medical Pre-Interns, initiated via the KOGS Central Branch.
KOGS CENTRAL BRANCH
The Kenya Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society (KOGS) is a membership association of obstetrician gynaecologists in Kenya and other reproductive health practitioners whose mandate is to advocate for the advancement of sexual and reproductive health rights in Kenya. KOGS Central Branch represents the geographical region spanning Nanyuki, Meru, Nyeri, Embu, Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyandarua, Nyahururu, Kirinyaga, Machakos, Kitui, and Mwingi.
MEDICAL PRE-INTERNSHIP & INTERNSHIP
Pre-internship is a gap period between completion of medical school and beginning of internship. Internship is a mandatory one-year work period where the medical graduate literally translates knowledge gained in medical school to service delivery by working as a doctor under supervision by senior medical staff. The KMA Young Doctors Network (YDN) organizes a yearly Pre-Internship conference to educate pre-interns on what to expect in internship.
HOW PRE-INTERNSHIP CAME ABOUT
Twenty-five years ago, during my internship years, the concept of pre-internship did not exist. There were only two medical schools whose completion dates of medical training were known and fixed, and medical internship began immediately on completion of medical school. This was and still is the ideal scenario. On completion of the grueling medical school, fresh medical graduates are always eager to deploy the medical knowledge while it was fresh in their minds.
Kenya now though has about thirteen medical schools and receives medical interns from outside Kenya. The different medical schools complete medical training at different times of the year. On completion of medical school, the pre-interns ballot for available internship spaces and take the Hippocratic Oath administered by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC). They are then posted to various internship places and paid by the Ministry of Health of Kenya (MOH) after being enrolled by the Public Service Commission (PSC). Over the years the period between completing medical school and beginning internship has increased from days to months, a period now termed pre-Internship.
CESAREAN SECTION IS THE BASIS OF #ADAPTAPREINTERN
The primary basis of the #AdoptAPreIntern mentorship program is to have the Pre-Intern learn cesarean section. A medical intern’s confidence is boosted the moment they can perform surgery on their own. The commonest obstetrics and gynaecology surgery done during internship is the cesarean section. As per KMPDC guidelines, a medical intern is supposed to observe cesarean sections, then assist and finally develop competence bydoing cesarean section on their own. By the time a medical intern is signed out of a Kenyan internship centre they should have performed at least twenty cesarean sections on their own.
REDUCED OBGY ROTATION TIME
Recent changes in internship timetable have resulted in a reduction in the time a medical intern rotates in obstetrics and gynaecology from 13 weeks to 9 weeks. With devolution of health and inclusion of community health and psychiatry to the internship rotations, medical interns thus must learn a lot in a shorter duration of time. Unfortunately to acquire surgical skills one had to perform many surgeries over a longer period.
LINKING THE PREINTERN TO A GYNAECOLOGIST
To address the gap of a shorter internship exposure in obstetrics and gynaecology, and to take advantage of the pre-internship period, I have launched an ambitious program dubbed #AdoptAPreIntern. The program’s primary aim is to link up Pre-Interns with obstetrician and gynaecologist. The output is simple. The OBGY will mentor the intern with the primary aim of ensuring that the intern can perform a cesarean section by the time they are starting internship. Every intern’s desire is to be able to perform cesarean sections on their own. Being able to perform a cesarean section comfortably markedly improves the psychological status of a medical intern. The pre-internship mentorship program will also empower the pre-interns to take up leadership roles in the clinical space that they will be going into.
#ADOPTAPREINTERN COORDINATOR
Dr Faith Anne is compiling a list of the Pre-Interns who are willing to be mentored via a registration form link. Pre-Interns who sign up will be paired with gynaecologists near them. So far 78 Pre-Interns have registered. KOGS Central Branch has 70 gynaecologists who are ready to take up Pre-interns.
KOGS CENTRAL BRANCH SYMPOSIUM
The official launch of the #AdoptAPreIntern will take place at the KOGS Central Branch 3RD annual symposium that is slated for 30th and 31st May 2025 at Alba Hotel, Meru County. KOGS Central symposium brings together persons working in the obstetrics and gynaecology space, county governments and partners in a 2-day scientific session, whose output guides policy in the region. Gynaecologists working in Meru County will lead the way in demonstrating their lessons in the #AdaptAPreIntern program. I am looking forward to the preliminary results of the same.
MY PREINTERN
From May 1ST 2025, I have adopted a Pre-Intern in the KOGS Central Pre-Internship program. I will ensure that by the time of the KOGS Central Branch symposium, they are proficient in cesarean section. Every Wednesday my PreIntern will be accompanying me to Kigumo SubCounty Hospital for surgery. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my internshipmate and good friend Dr Wycliffe Kaisha is a mentor in a similar arrangement at a smaller scale. My mentees will thus easily have a pathway to surgical mentorship.
KOGS CENTRAL MENTORSHIP SUCCESSES
KOGS Central Branch has had successes in mentorship of young doctors. Dr Soi Syovata, Dr Serena Vulavu and Dr Marieclaire Wangari have been the key organizers of KOGS Central symposia. The three are medical officers who ensure that KOGS Central Branch programs run even when the gynaecologists are busy. Dr Soi is head of secretariat of KOGS Central Branch. I’ve roped in Dr Faith Anne to coordinate the #AdoptAPreIntern mentorship program.
CALL TO ACTION
As KOGS Central Branch, our call to action is to ensure that we offer quality obstetrics and gynaecological care and mentor colleagues in the field. We are called to be leaders in the obstetrics and gynaecology space.
ROW TOGETHER
To finish off allow me to quote Pope Francis:
“We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time, important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other”
Let’s row together in #AdoptAPreIntern
Dr Simon Mucara Kigondu is a Gynaecologist, Chairman of the KOGS Central Branch and President of the Kenya Medical Association
simonkigondu@gmail.com
https://simonkigondu.co.ke